The day began with an early morning pick up at M56 junction 10 by Jay and Amyrumi, with a very tired Blober in tow. Once at the asylum, from the look of the fresh boards and the fake PIR's all over the place, we were not going to get in. After a lap though, the way in seemed obvious. Once we were in, security turned up complete with asylum Alsatian security dog tm. He hung around for a bit, screamed at his dog then left. The visit was uneventful after that.

The place is fairly trashed, but once of the most 'photogenic Trashed' Asylums that i have visited to date. They even have a water tower to climb,

History

The Asylum was built in 1852 as "Lindsey and Holland Counties and Lincoln and District Lunatic Asylum" on a slight rise in Bracebridge parish, on the high road to Sleaford. It was originally established jointly by Lindsey, Kesteven, Holland, Lincoln, Grimsby and Stamford, and managed by a Board of Visitors appointed by the contributing authorities. Kesteven and Grantham withdrew from the arrangement when the contract of Union expired in 1893 (eventually establishing the Kesteven County Asylum at South Rauceby, 1897)

Originally built to house 250 inmates, it was enlarged in 1859, 1866, 1881 and 1902.The hospital was set in grounds of 120 acres which included gardens, farmland and a burial ground. In 1940 female patients were transferred to other hospitals, mainly Storthes Hall near Huddersfield, to make space for an Emergency Hospital, and many did not return until well after the end of the War. Administration of the hospital passed to the National Health Service in 1948. By the early 1960s it was known by its final name of St John's Hospital. Patients were admitted from Harmston Hall Hospital when that hospital closed.The hospital finally closed its doors in 1990 and was sold a few years later to a property developer who constructed nearly 1,000 new houses in the village. The original hospital buildings themselves are classified as Grade III listed buildings and are protected from demolition. During the redevelopment of the hospital site, a number of these protected buildings were refurbished and converted into flats and offices. We had a pint in the local pub afterwards, and even that was a converted building that was part of the asylum.